Constructing and applying an exercise counseling model for pregnant women: A preliminary study

Identifying Patterns of Symptom Distress in Pregnant Women: A Pilot Study

During pregnancy, a woman's enlarged uterus and the developing fetus lead to symptom distress; in turn, physical and psychological aspects of symptom distress are often associated with adverse prenatal and birth outcomes. This study aimed to identify the trends in the trajectory of these symptoms. This longitudinal study recruited 95 pregnant women, with a mean age of 32 years, from the prenatal wards of two teaching hospitals in northern Taiwan. Symptom distress was measured by a 22-item scale related to pregnancy-induced symptoms. The follow-up measurements began during the first trimester and were taken every two to four weeks until childbirth. More than half of the pregnant women experienced symptom distress manifested in a pattern depicted to be "Decreased then Increased" (56.8%). Other noticeable patterns were "Continuously Increased" (28.4%), "Increased then Decreased" (10.5%) and "Continuously Decreased" (4.2%), respectively. It is worth noting that most pregnant women recorded a transit and increase in their symptom distress, revealed by their total scores, at the second trimester (mean 22.02 weeks) of pregnancy. The participants' major pregnancy-related distress symptoms were physical and included fatigue, frequent urination, lower back pain, and difficulty sleeping. The mean scores for individual symptoms ranged from 2.32 to 3.61 and were below the "moderately distressful" level. This study provides evidence that could be used to predict women's pregnancy-related symptom distress and help healthcare providers implement timely interventions to improve prenatal care.

Effectiveness of individual face-to-face exercise counselling in changing exercise behaviours to relieve symptom distress in pregnant women

AIM

The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of individualized exercise counselling in changing exercise behaviour and relieving pregnancy-related distress symptoms in pregnant women.

METHODS

A quasi-experimental design and convenience sampling technique were used. Participants were recruited from the prenatal outpatient departments of medical centre hospitals in Taipei, Taiwan. The experimental group (n = 52) received face-to-face exercise counselling followed by 8 weeks of exercise sessions in their homes. The control group (n = 49) received no exercise counselling. Pregnancy-related distress symptoms were assessed before and after 8 weeks in both groups.

RESULTS

The after-counselling scores of total (t = 2.46, P < 0.05) and physical (t = 3.18, P < 0.01) distress symptoms were significantly lower than the before-counselling scores in the experimental group. The total, physical and psychological distress scores significantly differed between groups and before and after counselling. The adjusted R² values for total, physical and psychological distress symptoms ranged from 0.59 to 0.70. Participants' exercise habits increased from prepregnancy (19.2%) to after counselling (71.2%).

CONCLUSION

Exercise counselling may effectively increase exercise habits and reduce pregnancy-related distress symptoms among pregnant women. Women with higher pretest symptom distress scores also had higher posttest symptom distress scores. Based on our outcomes, health care providers should routinely provide exercise counselling to pregnant women.